It would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking some of Everton’s most recent games have not been important.
Yes, the good run that started with the return of David Moyes was crucial. Those wins, particularly the exciting victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, not only started the climb away from the relegation zone, they revived Goodison Park in her final year.
And the draws with Liverpool and Manchester United were emotional, poignant occasions that could easily have ended in wins for the Blues.
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The matches that have followed have been more than mid-table battles for pride. For me - and I think for Moyes - the games against the likes of Wolves and West Ham have been the first occasions when the new manager has been able to take a proper look at his squad.
As challenging as they can be, the games after a new boss is appointed and crunch matches against survival and local rivals are some of the easier ones to get up for.
What Moyes needs to know as he heads into a summer of squad building is what this group of players can do when the pressure is off, when the emotion has gone and when a moment of magic or imagination or passion is needed to break the deadlock in a stalemate when the attention of the world is somewhere else.
In this area, I think Moyes is learning a lot about a group of players who have, at times, flattered to deceive. Against West Ham, I was a little disappointed. It was great to see the resilience shine through and for Jake O’Brien to keep the unbeaten run going.
Yet I think I saw some of the old flaws of this group start to show again. Where this squad has often struggled is against teams of a similar stature - those performing around the same level and where a moment of intelligence or sharpness can make the difference. You need players to be able to lift themselves for these occasions but instead Everton were very passive and had no element of surprise.
Instead we were too predictable, too slow in the final third and a bit sloppy. When the onus is on us to come up with something different we seem to struggle. Some players are missing but there were still the same players having the same issues they have come up against in the recent past.
Beto seems to find a back five kryptonite, particularly if there is no space to run in behind. He can only do so much though. Out wide, players always seem to take that extra touch and set themselves up for the perfect cross. That is a nightmare for a striker or a midfielder driving into the box. Instead of carrying your momentum against a defender you end up halting your run and all of a sudden more defenders can get back, or you end up fighting for the ball from a standing position, which is far harder.
Moyes will take a lot from these games, when you need some of your squad players to take the opportunity to seize the initiative and show they can make the difference in matches that still matter. He will be learning a lot about the characters in his squad right now and, while there are certainly positives, there will be nagging doubts about plenty as he starts to reach conclusions over who he may want to keep over the summer.
These are the games when players who want to stay have to take accountability. I don’t want to be too harsh given all they have achieved in recent weeks - they all deserve immense credit and I am happy to give it to them.
Their reward is more scrutiny through the quieter periods though. Moyes will likely have had a lot of questions answered across a series of draws that, with a bit more guile, composure or quality, could so easily have been wins.
